The field of the disclosure relates generally to transportation systems, and more specifically, to a transport and handling system and method of transporting a commodity.
At least some known commodity transportation systems include automated systems configured to receive a plurality of commodities from a delivery vehicle such as a ship or a railcar, and store the commodity in a receiving location. Vehicle operators operate manned vehicles to convey the commodities from the storage location to a delivery location for delivery to a railcar or truck for delivery to an end user of the commodity.
In known commodity transportation systems, delays due to congestion are common, because of the extensive manpower required to convey the commodities from the receiving location to the destination location. When the number of commodities entering a transportation system exceeds the number of commodities that can be safely handled by available vehicle operators (limited by the number of vehicle operators, vehicles, and available space to operate the vehicles), delays are imposed on commodity delivery. This uncertainty results in decreased system capacity and increased cost to convey commodities due to the increased time the commodity is stored within the system.